Before I tell you why I became a life coach for teenagers, I need to first tell you why I became an orthodontist.

You heard me right. I am an orthodontist ?

When I was in high school, my guidance counselor asked me to pick a career. “What do you want to do for the rest of your life?” she asked.

I replied with the most common phrase used by all teenagers, “I don’t know.”

So she asked me a different question. “If you could make a difference in the world, what difference would you make.”

I thought about that question for a while. I knew she would not allow me to use that common phrase again.

I replied,“I want people to be happy. I would spread happiness.”

“Great! You have two options. You can be a comedian or you can be an orthodontist.”

(Life coaching wasn’t a career back then.)

My decision was easy at that point. I was not funny so I chose to be an orthodontist.

I thought to myself, “Smiles are the logo for happiness so why not be the guy who creates them.”

I never strayed from that path and in May of 2012, it was official. I was an orthodontist.

I enjoy creating smiles!

And I felt that I was following my life’s mission to spread happiness until May of 2016, something happened!

If you have never had braces then you probably do not know the celebration that occurs when braces come off. It is a happy occasion.

The patient is happy and sometimes crying tears of joy. The parents are happy. My team is happy and I am happy. This was the image that was in my mind that day in the counselor’s office when I decided that I was going to be an orthodontist.

But something happened. A few days later, I received a phone call from that parent telling me that her daughter was unhappy.

She knew I mentored teenagers so she asked if I could help.

“I would be happy to talk with her but it sounds like she needs a therapist.”

I had only mentored teenagers at that time. I wasn’t trained to handle a teenager who was struggling with depression.

But that wasn’t all, the next week the same thing happened again. This time with a different parent. And again I referred them to a therapist.

But that wasn’t it because the same thing happened a third time.

At that moment, I knew orthodontics, alone, was not going to be enough to fulfill my life’s purpose of spreading happiness among teenagers.

You see, if something happens once, then it is random.

If something happens twice, then it is a coincidence.

If something happens three times, then I need to pay attention.

So the moment after I spoke with the third parent, I immediately started to research how I could help these teenagers.

I was prepared to pursue a degree in therapy until all three parents told me that therapy was not helping their child.

So I went back to the drawing board.

And that is when I discovered life coaching.

Today, I am happy to continue to spread happiness by creating smiles on the outside (as an orthodontist) and on the inside (as a teen life coach).